Paddy Brennan

Paddy Brennan

Jump jockey Paddy Brennan rode over 1,500 winners including the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup and the 2015 King George VI Chase during a distinguished career lasting 27 years. 

Born in Galway on April 13, 1981, Patrick Joseph Brennan started his racing career on the Flat with Jim Bolger and had his first mount for him on Nazario at the Curragh on October 31, 1997, finishing sixth. He rode his first winner aboard Ivory Isle, also trained by Bolger, in the Derrinstown Stud Apprentice Handicap at Gowran Park on August 12, 1998.   

He soon switched codes and had his first winner over jumps on Classic Grounds in the Porters Saddlery Maiden Hurdle at Gowran Park on September 14, 2000. 

He then relocated to Britain and joined Paul Nicholls’ Ditcheat stable, riding his first British winner for him on Sirmoor Rifles in a conditional jockeys’ handicap hurdle at Wincanton on April 16, 2001. 

However, it was his move to Minehead trainer Philip Hobbs that propelled his career and resulted in him landing the conditional jockeys’ title in 2004/5 with 67 wins. They included his first Grade 1 winner, Ashley Brook, in the Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree. 

He then headed north to link up with trainer Howard Johnson and owner Graham Wylie, winning the World (now Stayers’) Hurdle at Cheltenham for them in 2007 on Inglis Drever. However, that relationship was a short-lived one and did not last a year, but he soon landed another high-profile job in 2007 with Gloucestershire trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies.

Among his big race victories for Twiston-Davies were the 2009 Scottish Grand National on Hello Bud and the 2010 Aintree Hurdle with Khyber Kim, but by far his most successful association was with Imperial Commander, winning the Paddy Power Gold Cup in 2008, the Ryanair Chase in 2009, and culminating in their greatest triumph when winning the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup, spoiling the script for a race that had been promoted as a duel between the Paul Nicholls titans Kauto Star and Denman. 

The emergence of Twiston-Davies’ son Sam as a jockey forced Paddy to look elsewhere, but that was followed by a productive link with trainer Tom George, for whom he won the 2011 Aintree Bowl on Nacarat and, in 2016, the Melling Chase and the Punchestown Champion Chase on God’s Owen. He finished second on George’s chaser Saint Are in the 2015 Grand National, beaten a length and three-quarters by Many Clouds.  

On November 16, 2016, Paddy rode his 1,000th winner on Colin’s Sister at Warwick.

He became the regular rider of the popular Colin Tizzard-trained chaser Cue Card, steering him to victory in the Charlie Hall, Betfair Chase and King George VI Chase in 2015 before the pair fell three out when going well in the 2016 Cheltenham Gold Cup. 

They gained a modicum of compensation next time out when winning the Grade 1 Aintree Bowl, beating the Gold Cup third Don Poli by nine lengths. The following season they won a second Betfair Chase and the Grade 1 Ascot Chase, but their Cheltenham Gold Cup retrieval mission ended in the very same place with a fall three fences from home. 

Towards the end of his career, he played a pivotal role with Twiston-Davies’ former assistant Fergal O’Brien, who had begun training in his own right, based at Ravenswell Farm, Withington, near Cheltenham. 

In his last season in the saddle he restricted himself to only riding O’Brien’s horses, and it was one of those, juvenile hurdler Teonie, who gave him his 1,500th winner when winning at Catterick in December 2023. 

It was another of O’Brien’s string, Manothepeople, who provided him with his final victory in the 3m 2f Weatherite Air Conditioning Handicap Chase on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Saluting the crowd as he passed the winning post, he bowed out on a winner at the home of jump racing. 

He retired having won a total of 1,516 races over jumps, comprising 1,513 in Britain and three in Ireland, plus nine on the Flat. They included 18 Grade 1 wins and six at the Cheltenham Festival.  

Numerically his best season was 2007/08 with 104 winners, placing him fourth in the jockeys’ table, the highest position he achieved during his career. 

Paddy Brennan’s major wins included:

2005: Maghull Novices’ Chase – Ashley Brook 

2006: Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle – Shamayoun  

2007: Stayers’ Hurdle – Inglis Drever 

2008: Pertemps Hurdle Final – Ballyfitz

2008: Paddy Power Gold Cup – Imperial Commander 

2009: Ryanair Chase – Imperial Commander

2009: Scottish Grand National – Hello Bud

2010: Cheltenham Gold Cup – Imperial Commander

2010: Grand Annual Handicap Chase – Pigeon Island 

2010: Aintree Hurdle – Khyber Kim 

2010: Betfair Chase – Imperial Commander

2011: Aintree Bowl Chase - Nacarat

2015: Charlie Hall Chase – Cue Card

2015: Betfair Chase – Cue Card

2015: King George VI Chase – Cue Card 

2016: Aintree Bowl Chase – Cue Card 

2016: Melling Chase – God’s Own

2016: Punchestown Champion Chase – God’s Own 

2017: Ascot Chase – Cue Card